INCREASING THE TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY (TDR) SENSITIVITY FOR INTERFACIAL CHARACTERIZATION

Abstract

This project seeks to improve the capabilities of the existing time domain reflectometry (TDR) technique in order to characterize the interfacial resistance present at the gold wirebond / aluminium bondpad interface. Existing TDR applications in interconnect technology involves the detection of open and short circuits without consideration of intermediate high resistance states which may cause potential circuit failure. Thus, the extension of TDR capabilities to detect high impedance joints will potentially increase infant mortality detection and the development of better processing techniques to attain higher device yield.